The Ghost Crew
by Krescent
Summary: A laid-back, episodic series about the Ghost Crew after the events of Heroes of Mandalore(S4). An AU where the war hasn't intensified that much yet and things are still relatively calm. Probably no ships but that might change if I feel like it. As it stands now I only see them as a close-knit family. Anyways, thanks for reading!
1. Prologue

**Hi all! This takes place after the Heroes of Mandalore special in Eps. 1 and 2 of Season 4, in an AU where the war still hasn't intensified to such a harsh point and things are still relatively calm. I'm not too experienced as a writer, so if you find any logic or grammar errors, please feel free to call them out. I need all the help I can get xD.**

 **Note: Chapters are read best with 3/4 boundaries and an expanded view. Just a little tip.**

 **Anyways, here you are!**

* * *

"After him!"

The sound of stormtroopers chasing him filled Ezra with adrenaline. He had been running like this for what seemed like hours.

Well, of course, that was only because of the nauseating smell emanating from Zeb. In the years they had known each other, Ezra had never gone one day without catching a whiff of the foul stench that plagued the Lasat day and night.

The cool breeze and the smell of food coming from the streets below them was relaxing, although whenever they looked down to locate the source they were greeted with blaster shots.

"Would've been a great day to lie down and listen to some music..." Zeb groaned as he turned to his right to shoot at the troopers on the streets. As his shots continued to scrape the dust beneath the troopers' feet, one started to laugh.

"Hah, he missed! The rebel missed!" the trooper said, before getting blown away by a rather colorful explosive.

Sabine rode up beside the pair, taking off her helmet and smirking at Zeb.

"You know, I'm seriously beginning to think you _are_ one of those bucketheads 'cuz of the way you shoot sometimes."

"Yeah, _buckethead!"_ Ezra repeated, earning a jab in response.

A stern voice called through the three's wrist-coms. "Stop fooling around, kids. I can sense TIEs coming your way." Kanan said.

"We'll come pick you up once those TIEs are out. We can't risk the Ghost, her shields are too damaged!" Hera added, turning the ship around and heading towards the mountains. They watched as the ship faded off into the horizon, then turned back around to face the oncoming hostiles.

"Well, looks like we're on our own," said Ezra, readying his lightsaber.

The screeching sound of the 2 TIE Fighters rang in their ears as they flew past, blowing dust across Lothal's Capital City. "Hey, that doesn't seem too bad!" he said, before getting knocked off the building by the blasts of a TIE Defender. Sabine rolled her eyes. "Way to go, hotshot..." she said, as she put on her helmet and took off.

"Karrabast," Zeb muttered, changing his bo-rifle to staff form. He grunted as he jumped into the air and latched onto the wing of a TIE with the staff. "Don't take too long, kid!" he yelled, before getting pulled away with the fighter.

"Ow.." Ezra groaned, rubbing his head as he stood up and dusted himself off. "Wish I still had one of those jetpacks..." he said, before jumping up to another rooftop and closing his eyes.

* * *

"Fighter 2, get behind me. I'm blasting the caps off these mountains." The sound of huge boulders crashing into each other could be heard as the mountainous landscape was reduced to rubble. As the TIEs came out of the settling dust, something stirred on the leading TIE's wing.

"Hold on, Fighter 6. Circle right. The Lasat's on your left wing." said the pilot.

"Roger that, Fighter 2. Can you shoot at him from your position?" asked the leading pilot. No response came. "Fighter 2, do you copy?" Still no response. "Fighter 2, what's your status?"

"Sorry, but uh, Fighter 2's taking a nap right now. Maybe you should, too~!" Sabine responded in a cocky, teasing tone. "Huh?" were the pilot's last words, before he got knocked unconscious by Zeb. His body was grabbed and thrown to the floor, and the Lasat took over the controls. "Hehehe..." Zeb chuckled, maneuvering the TIE around in order to play ping-pong with the pilot's limp body.

"Nice going, Zeb."

"What else didja expect?"

Sabine grunted as her ship was suddenly bombarded by the Defender. "What's with Ezra? He's taking too long!" she said, struggling to control the TIE.

"Give him some time, Sabine. He needs to focus." came Kanan's voice.

"Well if he doesn't focus faster we're both gonna turn to dust!" snapped Zeb, spinning around to cover Sabine as she took the lead.

* * *

 _Focus. Remember what Master Yoda said._

Ezra stood deathly still as he tried to seek out the Defender's pilot with the Force. The surrounding citizens that were now coming out to watch were somehow distracting him. He had missed being with his people, and the constant flow of missions from the Rebellion had kept the crew extremely busy the past few months.

Now that he was back, memories of his experiences on Lothal constantly attacked his conscience and made him lose focus.

Ezra shook his head in frustration, trying to find something to focus on. Then he remembered the first time he received a birthday present - Sabine's gift on his 14th birthday. The holodisc she gave him had contained a picture of him and his parents, an image that had immediately calmed him down.

Finally focused, Ezra closed his eyes once more. Breathing slowly, he sought out the mind of the Defender's pilot and took hold of it.

"Ugh.." Sabine's body slammed from side to side as she struggled to keep the TIE steady.

"He should be here any minute now. I can sense him," assured Kanan.

Sabine yelped as one of the TIE's wings came off. "Ezra, get over here, now!" she screamed into the wrist-com, panicking at the sight of the Defender moving up in front of her.

"Hey, Sabine!" Ezra said, waving as he popped out of the hatch on the Defender. Sabine sighed in relief, jumping out of her TIE and into his.

She closed the hatch, opening up one of the folded seats on the walls and sitting down. "That was too close, Ezra. What took you so long?" she asked, as she took off her helmet. Ezra scratched his head, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just, it's been a while since we've been back here, and I got distracted," he said meekly.

She smiled sympathetically, giving him a short hug. "Don't worry. Trust your people like I do mine. They'll be fine. Besides, they have Ryder, right?" she said, giving him a playful punch. "Come on, we gotta get back to Hera," she said as she took the controls.

Ezra smiled, mentally slapping himself for getting too distracted. "Right."

Noticing a set of stormtrooper pilot armor, Sabine raised her eyebrows. "Ezra?"

"Yeah?"

"..Where's the pilot..?"

Ezra grinned, scratching the back of his head. "Ah, don't worry. I uh, took care of him."

Sabine narrowed her eyes, but then dismissed it. "Alright," she said, shrugging as she turned back around.

Sitting back down on the wall bench, Ezra tried his best to stop laughing out loud.

Kanan and Hera stood by the bay door as they watched the three land their TIEs and come inside.

"Good job, kids. You got the objective?" Hera said, outstretching her hand.

"You betcha." Ezra grinned, placing the droid part in her hand.

Chopper, who had been lazing around on the ship during the mission, beeped happily, waving his arms around. Hera took hold of the part and installed it on the droid's headpiece.

"Happy, Chop?" Hera said, crossing her arms. Chopper beeped happily in response.

"Hey, how about we go to my room and give you a new paintjob?" Sabine teased, chasing after the droid with paint cans in her hands.

Zeb groaned, shaking his head and stretching. "Still can't believe we did all this for a stupid transmitter..."

* * *

 **Meanwhile..**

The pilot awoke in a dark, rather stinky pit. He looked around him, seeing nothing but black.

"Hello?" his voice echoed, as he tried to get up. His hands squashed something furry, and he yelped in response. _I don't have my armor_ , he realized, shaking in fear.

All of a sudden, light shone upon his exposed body. "Ah! A citizen! Get me out of this hole right now, darn you! I am an Imperial _Elite!_ I will _not_ stand for this tomfoolery!" he yelled, furious.

The light dimmed down to reveal the face of a beaten-up scavenger. "Ah, wel, henlo dere, misters Impal. Dun wory, well be the beast of fwends.." he said, extending his grimy hand towards the face of the pilot.

And screams of agony resounded across the pit of..well...hell, I suppose.

* * *

 **That was the first chapter! I'm still working on my sentence structure and pacing, and there're probably a lot of grammatical errors, so forgive me. I'll try to improve as I go along, so for now, this is the best I can do. I'll try posting new chapters every week or so, although that might not be true at all, taking evidence from my past series xD.**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Been a busy weekend, but I managed to get some time in to write. I'm trying to fix my pacing and slow it down a little bit, cuz it seemed a bit too rushed the first chapter. I'll be getting more descriptive in order to slow down starting now, just as a heads-up before you read. :D**

 **Note: In this AU, Sabine's mother and brother aren't protected by cheap plot armor, and thus die on Mandalore at the hands of her own weapon, but everything else continues as normal.**

* * *

"Move along, trooper."

"Sir, yes, sir."

The hallway resounded with the footsteps of the patrolling stormtroopers. The dull, steel walls reflected their figures as they walked down the long hallway.

Ezra's helmet was musty and filled with sweat, urging him to take it off. It reduced his vision to the helmet's tiny visors. _No wonder why they can't shoot right,_ he thought, taking a glance at his hands.

The blaster he was holding was the general issue E-11 rifle. It shone with its metallic black finish, highlighting its numerous intricate designs and exterior mechanisms. _Heavier than I thought,_ Ezra observed, turning the blaster around in his hands. He took a quick breath as he noticed that the rifle was set to lethal, swiftly setting it to stun. _That might've been a bother,_ he thought, holstering it.

Kanan leaned in and whispered to Ezra. "Room at the end of the hallway. As quick as you can." Ezra gave a quick nod, walking calmly towards the room. He took one last glance around before sneaking in.

* * *

Hera put the ship on autopilot and turned to Chopper. "Get that spike running, Chop. We'll need it if something goes wrong."

The astromech beeped in response, giving a cheery salute as she walked past.

"Something _always_ goes wrong," Sabine responded, leaning on her doorframe. "Come on, Hera, there's still time for me to go!" she pleaded. Hera crossed her arms, frowning. "Absolutely not! We need you to cover their escape if things go wrong. We can't let our feelings interrupt the objective." She put a hand on Sabine's shoulder, softening her features. "Look, I know we all have our grudges, but you need to control yourself. Please, just let it go for now."

Sabine sighed, defeated. "I'll try."

Hera smiled, patting her on the head. "Good," she said, walking down into the cargo hold.

Sabine landed back on her bed, feeling bored. Her colorful room suddenly felt dull to her, and she lit up as an idea came to mind. She got to her feet and took a hold of her paint cans, smiling.

* * *

Ezra looked around the room with disgust. The walls were surprisingly bright pink, and there were numerous decorative pieces placed around the room. Governor Pryce's desk was fitted with innumerable mirrors, and, as he walked closer, Ezra noticed tons of heart-shaped containers set on it.

 _Wish Sabine could see this,_ he thought, as he recoiled in disgust. Taking off his helmet, Ezra took a look in the mirror, and lit up in surprise. It had been a while since he had seen himself in a mirror, and his matured features came as news to him. His shaved head had since grown back a little bit, giving him a short, clean style that fitted him quite well.

He began messing with some of the items on Pryce's desk, before jumping at the sound of his wristcomm. "What's taking so long, Ezra? Everything alright?" came Hera's voice. Ezra sighed, taking a moment to respond. "Yeah, everything's fine, Hera. Just, uh, looking around," he responded, looking up to check the door.

"Well, get going. You have 20 minutes at most till they spot the Ghost," Hera responded, stern and urgent. "Gotcha," came the response, as Ezra put on his helmet and extracted a data disc from Pryce's computer, throwing it up and down in triumph. He replaced it with a spiked disc, grinning as he did so. He started walking towards the door, but stopped halfway. Reaching back, he took a hold of one of the heart-shaped containers and shoved it in a pouch.

Stopping at the door, he tapped it twice, waiting for a response. After a few seconds, another two taps came, and he continued through the door to meet Kanan, who nodded at him and led him to another hallway.

Ezra's breath came short as he noticed a pair of shocktroopers walking towards them, and he quickly saluted them as they walked past. Kanan nudged him in irritation, quietly muttering Jedi chants under his breath. He sighed as he heard the shocktroopers stop and turn around.

"Stop right there, troopers," said one of them, slowly coming towards them.

The two turned around, trying to act as calmly as possible. Ezra noticed distinct red markings on the accusing trooper, and he lit up as he recognized him. "Fox?" came his response, and he quickly hit himself with his blaster for his mistake.

The shocktrooper recoiled, then recovered and trained his blaster at Ezra. "How in the hell do you know my name?" he demanded, practically shoving the rifle in Ezra's face.

"Uh..I was just uh, chatting with my pal here about you," Ezra replied nervously.

"Is that right...?" came the response, as Fox ushered his partner to train his blaster on Kanan.

"What's your designation, _trooper?_ " he asked, setting his blaster to lethal.

Ezra gulped, before replying, "CT-5555, sir. Is there an issue?" he asked hesitantly.

Fox recoiled, before slamming Ezra with his blaster. "Fives, huh..Thought I killed you, you traitor," he said, before turning to Kanan. "And who might you be? Rex? Thought you'd be old and fat by now.."

"Tough luck," Kanan responded, before taking out his lightsaber and slashing off Fox's right arm. Before his partner could respond, he force-pushed both of them to the other end of the hallway, before helping up Ezra.

"What...was _that_?" he said, crossing his arms. Ezra shrugged, stretching. "How was I supposed to know? 5 seemed like a good number!" he said, thoughtfully. _Rex said he was dead...And who is Fives..?_

Two more stormtroopers appeared around the corner, helping up Fox and his partner. "Hey, stop, traitors!" yelled one of them, opening fire. Kanan deflected the blasts with his lightsaber, pushing Ezra. "We have to go, now!"

As they ran past numerous hallways and troopers, Ezra looked at Kanan and started chatting idly. "Hey, I would've had that if I used a different number. And one that doesn't represent an actual trooper...Or one that isn't assigned to a clone..." he continued, unaware of his surroundings. He suddenly tripped on a stormtrooper, falling flat on his face. _Screw clonetroopers_ , he thought, as he picked himself up and tried to drown out a headache.

"How about you let _me_ do the talking from now on. And just _try_ to look around you," Kanan added sarcastically, before continuing onwards. Ezra grumbled before following.

* * *

Hera looked anxiously around through the Ghost's front windows. The freighter was attached to the belly of the Imperial star destroyer, covered in darkness by its immense size. Hera had barely managed to mask the Ghost's presence, especially since she needed Chopper active to install the spike at a moment's notice.

The astromech stood idly by the control panel, swinging his hands up and down in boredom and beeping irritably. "Chopper, shh," whispered Hera, her eyes still trained outside to spot any oncoming TIEs. Relieved that they hadn't been spotted yet, she got up and walked to the astromech. She patted Chopper on the head, walking past him to get to the tail gun.

As she walked past Sabine's quarters, Hera heard her paint cans going wild, and grinned. She tapped at Sabine's door and yelled: "You better show it to me when you're done!"

The paint cans stopped for a second, and Sabine's cheerful voice called back. "You betcha!"

Once she got to the tail gun, she tapped Kallus's shoulder. "Seen anything yet?" she asked, worried.

Kallus turned around and shook his head. "Nothing yet. But..." he began, taking out a comm-like device. "I use this to monitor nearby Stormtrooper chatter. There was a lot going on, but from what I could gather, those two ran into a high-ranking shocktrooper and were spotted...And Bridger used a _clonetrooper_ designation." he said, slightly chuckling.

Hera facepalmed, shaking her head in frustration. "Can't seem to get through a single mission without something like that happening.." she said, turning back. "Keep an eye out!"

Kallus turned back around, training his eyes on the ships' hangar bays. "That I will..."

* * *

"Over there!"

Blasters fired hysterically at Kanan and Ezra as they ran into the command bridge.

Kanan jumped over the blockade of stormtroopers, deflecting their blasts as he ran to the controls. Ezra proceeded to cover him, slicing off the heads of a few of the stormtroopers before force-pushing the rest onto the officers below. Commander Brom Titus stood behind a block of trembling officers as they cowered under the glow of Kanan's lightsaber.

"I-I'll do anything, I promise! Just, tell me what to do and my officers will do it!" he screamed, pushing some forward. As they whimpered and hyperventilated, Kanan withdrew his lightsaber and mind-controlled them. Ezra watched in awe as all the officers obediently walked to their stations, followed by Titus, who went to the main panel and spoke into the PA.

"All units, return to your stations. False alarm. I repeat, please return to your stations. This is an order from the Commander," he spoke, before fainting along with his other officers. "That was amazing, Kanan!" Ezra said, excited. "You've gotta teach me how to do that!"

Kanan coughed and wheezed, putting his hand on his head. "I will, once you get stronger. That took a toll on _me_ ," he said, breathing heavily. Ezra slouched in disappointment. "Oh well.." he lit up as an idea came to mind. "Hey! How about this..."

* * *

Hera recoiled as she felt her wristcomm go off. "Kallus? Why are you using your comm? They'll spot us!" she said, worried. "They already have," came his response. "Turn on all systems, we've gotta get out of here," he said, with urgency in his voice.

Sabine came through the door, with a worried look on her face. "Hera, what's wrong?" she asked, helmet in hand. "We've been spotted," Hera returned, before turning to her wristcomm again.

"How bad is it?" she asked, preparing to detach from the cruiser. "Bad enough," Kallus responded, as he looked indignantly at an Inquisitor's TIE.

* * *

Kanan and Ezra walked alongside each other, led by Commander Titus, into the hangar bay. Two stormtroopers stationed near the entrance stopped them, demanding answers.

Titus looked up at them with a deflated, stoned face. "Now listen here, troopers. I have been summoned by the Emperor to look into some matters of the utmost importance. Now, if you'll let me and my guards through, I'll be right on my way," he said, almost robotic.

The two troopers looked at each other. One of them whispered, " _Him_ meeting the Emperor? Hah," to which Ezra almost lost his composure. The other let them through, with a curt "Good luck, Commander."

As the three boarded the shuttle, Kanan took a deep breath as he released his control over Titus, who slumped in his seat, asleep. "We have to find a way to get rid of him," Kanan suggested, piloting the shuttle. Ezra smiled as an idea came to mind. "Oh, I think I know _just_ what to do with him."

A garbled, alien voice came through their comm as they departed. "Who's there?" Kanan asked. Just then, a TIE Inquisitor appeared in front of them, and the two recoiled. Once again, the same garbled voice came through.

"I am Rukh. I serve the Grand Admiral, and I will be the one to kill you all," came the deep, hungry voice.

Before they had any time to react, the Ghost appeared in front of them, firing at Rukh's TIE until he retreated, allowing the two to land the shuttle in the cargo bay.

* * *

"Chopper, Sabine, now!" Hera yelled, preparing the hyperdrive.

As Chopper loaded the spike into the Destroyer's main systems, Sabine shot down numerous incoming TIEs and destroyed its gravity wells, allowing the Ghost to go into hyperspace.

Hera sighed, turning the ship on autopilot and patting Chopper on the head. "Nice going, Chop."

Chopper beeped happily, spinning his headpiece numerous times. Sabine came down beside Hera as she went into the cargo hold, receiving a clap on the back from the Twi'lek.

Kanan and Ezra appeared from the shuttle, the latter grinning at the sight of the rest of the crew. As Hera drew closer, Ezra tossed her the data disc, which she put in her pocket and hugged the pair. "Good job, you two," she said, before pulling back and taking a moment to scold Ezra for his mistake.

Kallus climbed down to greet them, a sight which made Ezra extremely giddy. "Hey, Kallus! I left you a little present in the shuttle. You can do whatever you want to him," he said, winking. Kallus looked at him suspiciously, then shrugged and continued into the shuttle. "Alright.."

Sabine grinned, pulling the three upstairs. "Come on, guys. I've got something to show you," she said cheerfully.

As she opened her door, Hera and Ezra covered their mouths to hide their surprise.

"Well? Waddaya think?" Sabine asked, showcasing Ezra's stormtrooper pilot armor collection, colored to match a Lasat's skin. Ezra started getting angry, but then remembered the souvenir he borrowed.

"Hold on," he said, bringing out the container. "Here you go. I found this on Pryce's desk," he said, handing it to Sabine.

She looked at it with a perplexed expression, then, taking an item out of it, she popped open the cap. Seeing its potential, she quickly used the red wax to make a pair of lips on the helmet, giggling with Ezra as she did so. Hera shook her head, trying not to laugh.

"What's it look like?" Kanan asked, grinning curiously.

Hera tried her best to keep her composure, putting her hand on Kanan's shoulder. "Trust me, you do _not_ want to know."

At that moment, Zeb appeared from his quarters, stretching and yawing. "What'd I miss?" he asked. Sabine and Ezra glanced at each other, before tossing the helmet to the Lasat.

"We got you a little friend," Ezra said, grinning.

Zeb grinned mischievously at the sight. "Looks like we're gonna have a bit of fun," he added, turning back around into his room and locking it.

Soon after, the four gathered around the holotable in the lounge.

"Well, was it worth it?" Kanan asked Hera, as she stooped over her computer, inserting the data disc.

A hologram of a planet floated above the holotable, followed by a series of prototype ships and blueprints, which earned gasps of awe from all four of them.

"Yeah, if we can get to these 'X-wings'", she responded, smiling at the sight of the prototype.

* * *

Titus awoke in a loud, boisterous den, with blasting music and numerous alien species. "What in the...?" he cried out, standing up immediately and trying to find the host.

As he approached the giant slug-like creature at the head of the party, he lost his composure. "What on earth do you think you're doing, you vile thing! Get me off this planet, this instant!" he screamed, agitated.

"Hm" replied Jabba the Hutt, gulping down a frog. The Hutt made disturbing slop noises as he digested the vile snack, shaking his hips in pleasure. He took a glance at Titus, sticking out his tongue. "Myo shag, Titus," he said, continuing to consume additional frogs.

A golden protocol droid appeared from behind the slug, taking some time to process his words.

"Erm, he means to say, sir, that you are now his slave," he translated.

"What!?" came Titus' response, as he was dragged away by a pair of Jawas into his impending doom.

* * *

 **Welp, stayed up till 12 just to stay true to my promise. Gotta wake up for school tomorrow at 6:30. Kill me XD. Anywho, I think I did a little better this time, although I got a bit lazy with the ending. I think I'll be able to improve as time goes on, but that also depends on your feedback, so I'd really appreciate any form of criticisms or suggestions that you may have.**

 **Also, as you can tell, I'll be delving into the canon origin story of the Rebel X-wing in the next chapter, and sort of wrap up the whole Fox(shocktrooper from Clone Wars) and Rex story. The X-wings were never explained in Rebels, and as we all know Clone Wars never tied up all the loose knots.**

 **Note: Just re-edited this chapter cuz my friends saw a bunch of mistakes. Some parts should make more sense now! :D**

 **Thanks for reading! :D More next week.**


End file.
